MustangWill

I've had this car for a year-and-a-half now. It's a 1999 GT Stang. It was wednesday night that I noticed what looked like smoke coming outta my engine compartment. I looked in there, and to my horror, there was a small cascade of coolant spurting out from my thermostat housing. Took it apart, the O-ring is fine. Now, at the hardware store, the guy at the counter suggested this gasket seal stuff. Non-hardening type. I tried it, let it sit for about an hour and then drove. The coolant's still leaking. Pretty bad, too.

I've changed hose clamps. I haven't performed a radiator flush yet because I don't have jack stands and I'm not about to crawl under my car for a long period of time with just the emergency jack.

Would the problem be the thermostat? Could it possibly be stuck shut?

Thanks for any answers.

contentsunderpressur

Is the crossover plastic? If so you need to check for a crack. I've never head of them leaking and not be cracked. If it is cracked then replace the intake. Don't try to patch it.

02 Ninja

My 1st thought was the o-ring, but if you have already checked it and it's good, then it's time for a new intake.

72MachOne99GT

New Intake:

Get a stock replacement off of ebay or somewhere for under 200, it won't need gaskets, and it MIGHT take 2-3 hours to do it yourself with NO prior mechanical experience.

Worst part is probably...well, hmm..it's not really a hard job, so just take your time and be patient and everything will go well.

MustangWill

Are there any other possibilities? I'm taking it to the mechanic today, but I'm also resigned to the fact that I'll probably need to dish out the money for a new intake.

MustangWill

Sorry for the double post, but I've now confirmed that it is indeed the intake manifold that cracked. I've also seen the thread about the lawsuit but I'm dead outta luck with the matter because it is past the 7-year mark. I'll still call the dealership but I want to confirm that the 02 and up manifolds work with the 99 engine. So yeah, do they?

72MachOne99GT

Yep.

The only difference might be that you'll have to use a 'plug' to stop one of the sensor spots on the new manifold (I had to on my 99 using the revised intake).

Other than that, and a different alternator bracket or something, everything is identical.

MustangWill

Where on the intake is this sensor spot located?

Update:

I've put in the new intake, made sure all the hoses and wires are where they need to be, but today on my test drive (less then 2 miles), the car started smoking from under the manifold.

I reused the old gaskets which were in pretty good shape. I might not have cleaned everything properly, and I used the Permatek Red RTV sealant/gasket maker. Only applied it to one side, though.

I also had water and radiator cleaning fluid in my car. Part of the reason why the test drive was going on was to try and circulate the cleaning fluid through my car.

Right now, I think it's the gasket area.

Another problem I have is that the car has an off-rhythmic vibration that I feel strongest during stops and at idling. I think this is because I never found or plugged the aforementioned sensor hole, but I could be wrong.

Any help or advise is strongly appreciated.

Worst comes the worst, I think I'll just take it to the mechanic.

MustangWill

Bump.

BOSTANG

It not if it will leak but when. We know when for you was nov.16. You are going to need a new intake. 200 dollars if you do it yourself.